Free, easy, versatile education

I’m listening to a podcast while editing a newsletter featuring four podcasts, including three hosted by our voice-of-God managing editor Matt LaWell. After writing this column about podcasts, I plan on incorporating a few best practices extracted from a podcast into our content strategies. Later today, I will take a break from writing and trudge through the snow-covered neighborhood surrounding our headquarters. The sounds of a podcast entering my ears will supplant the shivers through my body. And at some point, I will leave the office and drive home. The commute is 19 minutes, about half the time of the average podcast.

Did I mention I’m a podcast junkie? Golf, turf, media, marketing, business, management, college football. It doesn’t matter. If I can learn while driving, walking, running, hiking, biking, lifting, stretching, reading, writing, mowing turf, shoveling snow, sitting in a plane, eating or cooking, I’m going for it.

I’m not even the biggest podcast junkie on our team. Matt listens to dozens of podcasts on varied topics. I often spot him inside his midsize SUV listening to the final minutes of a podcast consumed on his commute. Matt and his wife are raising a wonderful child. Podcasts help him squeeze following professional wrestling, Premier League soccer, golf, turf and media into a busy life. His 5-year-old daughter even listens to a podcast while getting ready in the morning!

Matt has built our Superintendent Radio Network into one of the best podcast networks in B2B publishing. We uploaded a record 75 episodes in 2022 and more than 13,600 of you listened. Hopefully you enjoyed what you heard and tell an industry friend or two about what we offer.

Podcasts are the fastest growing form of media. The number of monthly podcast listeners in America topped 120 million in 2021, according to Statista. Monthly listeners are projected to exceed 160 million by 2023. In 2013, that total was 23 million.

I feel bad for adults who aren’t listening to podcasts. They are missing opportunities to become better spouses, parents, managers and employees without sacrificing anything in their lives. The podcasts produced by Matt and others have made me better at this job. Most podcasts, including every Superintendent Radio Network episode, are free. Who doesn’t want debt-free education?

Our educational offerings are expanding in 2022, as we use SRN to increase awareness around two underrepresented groups in the industry: women and equipment managers.

Rick Woelfel, a Philadelphia-based Golf Course Industry contributor who has spent decades covering women’s golf, debuted the “Wonderful Women of Golf” podcast series last year on our platforms. The series moved to a monthly format in 2022. The conversations provide a forum for women who make golf a better game to tell their stories in their own words and voices. Podcasts are powerful ways to introduce a male-dominated audience to women who find working on golf courses rewarding. Rick’s guests share inspiring stories that provide insight into what a group the industry struggles to reach seeks in a career or job.

We’re also adding a monthly “Reel Turf Techs” episode to Superintendent Radio Network. Hosted and produced by Ansley (Georgia) Golf Club equipment manager Trent Manning, the series debuted last spring and has become a hit among Trent’s colleagues. Trent mixes human stories with technical chatter in each episode. Equipment technicians are key cogs in golf operations and, sadly, they are increasingly more difficult to find and retain. Sharing their stories with larger audiences will lead to a better understanding of the relationship between properly maintained equipment and fabulous golf course conditions.

“Wonderful Women of Golf” and “Reel Turf Techs” complement our existing monthly series: “Beyond the Page,” “Greens with Envy,” “Off the Course” and “Tartan Talks.” Plus, our terrific partners are investing in topic-specific series and episodes. We’ll likely exceed 80 episodes in 2022.

OK, it’s time to take that walk. I just downloaded Matt’s “Off the Course” episode with Reno Aces head groundskeeper Leah Withrow.